The Ministry of Justice has signed an agreement with the Swiss Federal Office of Justice to ensure its cooperation regarding the investigation of Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), who is wanted for his alleged role in the Lafayette frigate scandal, Vice Minister Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) said yesterday.
"The agreement, proposed by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice and written only in English, was signed by Minister Chen Ding-nan (
According to Hsieh, the first of the three promises states that Wang will not be subject to the death penalty. The second states that Wang will be assigned defense counsel if a trial is held in Taiwan and will have the right to appeal. The third promise states that Wang shall be regarded as innocent until convicted.
Hsieh, speaking on behalf of Chen, made the remarks at a press conference yesterday. Chen was on his way to an annual prosecutor-generals' meeting in California.
The vice minister said the details of the agreement will not be made public.
Taiwanese justice officials had been seeking cooperation with Switzerland, asking last December that Wang's bank account in that country be frozen.
Swiss Judge Paul Berraudin decided to freeze US$600 million in an account operated by Wang, who is wanted by the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office. The warrant for Wang is good for the next 20 years.
Swiss justice officials granted access to their Taiwanese counterparts in a bid to help the investigation after laying down the three conditions.
There is little the ministry can do to keep the promises, however. The ministry is in charge of investigation and indictment but not trials. While the ministry has promised that prosecutors will not suggest death penalty for Wang, it is not up to the ministry to decide whether Wang will be executed.
Hsieh did not address the issue at the press conference yesterday.
Wang is suspected of involvement in the murder of navy captain Yin Ching-feng (
Yin was the head of the navy's Arms Acquisition Office. His body was found floating in the sea off the east coast of Taiwan on Dec. 9, 1993. His death prompted an investigation into irregularities surrounding the purchase of Lafayette-class frigates from France. Investigators believe the deal included more than US$500 million in illegal commissions.
Investigators discovered that Yin was trying to collect evidence to protect himself once the scandal surfaced and that he might have been killed by the main beneficiaries of the kickbacks.
Wang has been on the run since September 2000. He is suspected of having received a share of the illegal proceeds for playing an instrumental role in securing a deal for Thomson CSF, a French company now called Thales, to build six Lafayette-class frigates for Taiwan.
According to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, requests to freeze all bank accounts that may be connected to the scandal were made by both the Taiwanese and French law enforcement authorities on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, 2001.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
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STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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